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A woman who was lost in the woods of northeastern Maine for several days is sharing her story of survival.Pamela Helmstadter, 72, of Alexander, was still recovering in the hospital when she was interviewed by ABC News about the four nights she spent in the wilderness.”It’s a lot of sadness and grief,” she said.Helmstadter and her husband, John, went for a walk with their dogs on Sunday, Oct. 13, on the network of trails behind their home. Pamela said she and her husband went on a trail they had walked dozens of times over 22 years.During their walk, John fell and was unable to get up. The couple did not have cellphones with them, so Pamela went to get help.”I told him: ‘I’ll come back for you as soon as I find out where we are,'” Pamela Helmstadter said.But at one point, Pamela became disoriented and hours roaming the woods turned into days with no food and temperatures below freezing.”I started eating peat moss. I thought maybe that would keep me alive,” she said.The Maine Warden Service said a neighbor who checks on the Helmstadters spotted a package on their porch and brought it inside their house on Tuesday, Oct. 15. That neighbor then called the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, Oct. 16, when he saw the package was still in the same place where he had put it in the couple’s home. The neighbor also noticed one of the couple’s dogs had returned to the house, but there was no sign of Pamela, John and their other dog.Game wardens and Washington County Sheriff’s deputies began their search for the missing couple Wednesday night, and they were joined by members of the Maine Forest Service and Maine Search and Rescue Dogs.On the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 17, Game Warden Jake Voter and Warden Service K-9 Koda located Pamela in a forested area that was more than a mile from her home.Officials said Pamela was severely hypothermic when she was found, as her body temperature was just 90.7 degrees. Pamela did have her dog, Lucy, by her side and officials said the pet may have helped save her life.”When the K-9 team located her, her dog was being very protective of her and even laid down on top of her on her chest,” said Maine Warden Service Sgt. Josh Beal. “It sounds like that’s what the dog would do at night as well to help keep her warm.”Sadly, John Helmstadter was found dead a half-hour after search-and-rescue crews had found Pamela. The 82-year-old was located approximately 200 yards away from his wife.Pamela said she cherishes her marriage and is determined to keep her husband’s memory alive.”He was loving. We were married for 31 years, and we had a good life together,” she said.Pamela told authorities that she had given up hope of being found, but she received newfound hope when she heard the Warden Service’s airplane circling over her five different times on Thursday.”I knew if I wasn’t found that day, I wasn’t going to survive,” she said.Previous coverage: